Minsk. November 13. INTERFAX-AVN - Belarus would like to receive Iskander-M tactical missile systems from Russia, President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko said.
"I need several divisions in the western, southern direction. Let them stand. This is 500 kilometers (the official range of the Iskander-M complex - IF), because our Polonaise (the Belarusian multiple launch rocket system - IF) is up to 300 kilometers. Now I'm slowing down your president, I need these 500-kilometer rocket launchers here," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Russian magazine National Defense.
Earlier, Minsk announced its desire to buy long-range S-400 Triumph air defense systems from Russia.
Russia will promptly consider the issue of supplying Belarus with S-400 systems as soon as an official request is received from Minsk in the prescribed manner, Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of Russia, told Interfax on October 12.
The Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system was developed at the Kolomna Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (High-Precision Complexes Holding). It was reported that the missiles of the complex can carry a nuclear warhead. In the variant for the Russian army, the complex includes two types of missiles: ballistic and cruise. The flight range of the Iskander-M missiles was officially called - up to 500 km.
Russia will not supply Iskanders to Minsk, the former head of the international treaty department of the Russian Defense Ministry, retired Lieutenant General Yevgeny Buzhinsky, told Interfax on Saturday.
"I think it won't work. It is not in our interests to escalate the situation now," Buzhinsky said.
"You see, if we start deploying now, then what prevents the Americans from deploying their missiles somewhere in Poland or in the Baltic States," Buzhinsky said.
On August 2, 2019, the United States officially terminated its participation in the Intermediate-range and Shorter-Range Missiles Treaty (INF Treaty). Before that, the United States accused Russia of violating the treaty. Washington had claims to the range of the Russian 9M729 cruise missile of the Iskander-M complex. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the range of Iskander missiles did not violate the INF Treaty.
In May 2018, it was officially announced that the Russian missile brigade in the Kaliningrad Region had been re-equipped from Tochki-U to modern Iskander-M complexes.
In November 2019, the Russian military officially announced that all missile brigades of the Russian Ground Forces had completed rearmament from Tochki-U to Iskander-M complexes.
Meanwhile, on August 10 of this year, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko announced that the Russian army had received a new brigade set of Iskanders.
